Ashley Court discussed private information

In January of 2013 I filed a complaint against Ashley Court with the Department of Human Services Bureau of Children and Adult Licensing. They immediately conducted an investigation. The results were as follows:

Four major rules were in violation:

1) Inadequate ratio of direct care staff to residents (R 400.15206)

2) Inadequate staff requirements (R 400.15206)

3) Investigation and reporting of incidents, accidents, illnesses, absences, and death (R 400.15311)

4) Maintenance of premises (R 400.15403)

The investigator conducted an exit conference with the owner. The rules violations were substantiated. The owner was asked to develop an acceptable action plan to address the violations.

When the investigation was concluded, I asked the Argus to inform the public about Ashley Court and this investigation. A reporter interviewed the spokesperson at Ashley Court. During their discussion, the personal information about my husband’s Alzheimer’s disease, his symptoms, behaviors and medical treatment were openly discussed and printed in the local paper. I received many calls from people who were upset about this protected information being discussed. Several professional nurses encouraged me to file a complaint about Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act violations.

In May of 2013 I filed a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights. In the complaint, I stated that Ashley Court violated my husband’s privacy rights protected by HIPAA laws. The Chicago Office of Civil Rights investigated this claim. The claim transaction number is 13-160845. The investigation took a long time and was completed in the fall of 2014. I would like to share those results with the residents of Livingston County. The OCR summarized their findings below.

“We are pleased to inform you that your allegations have been addressed. In response to OCR’s investigation, Ashley Court has taken the following corrective actions in order to come into compliance with the Privacy Rule: 1) counseled the individual staff member who spoke with the reporter with regards to refraining from discussing patient Protected Health Information when approached by a reporter; and 2) retrained the entire staff on Ashley Court’s HIPAA policies and procedures.”